Dual post band seater

ABSTRACT

A dental tool is used for applying dental bands to the teeth of the human patient for tooth straightening purposes. An elongated member has a handle portion at one end and an operative flattened portion at the other end, the area of one side of the flattened portion is at least co-extensive with that of the area of the working surface of the tooth opposed to that for which the tool will be used. Dual post means extend from the other side of the flattened portion at substantially the same angle relative thereto and engage at opposite sides of the outer edge of the dental band. The inner edge of the band initially engages about the outer edge of the working surface of the tooth, and the one side of the flattened portion is adapted to engage with the working surface of the opposing tooth. The dual post means is adapted to guide and push the band into circumferential engagement about the side of the tooth, on biting engagement with the flattened portion, thereby seating the band about the tooth.

United States Patent Meeks, Jr. i

[4 1 Mar. 19, 1974 DUAL PosT BAND SEATER [76] Inventor: James E. Meeks, Jr., 505 N.

Seminary St., Florence, Ala. 35630 22 Filed: Oct. 13, 1972 211 Appl. No.: 297,391

Primary Examiner-Robert Peshock Attorney, Agent, or F irm-Cushman, Darby & Cushman 57 ABSTRACT A dental tool is used for applying dental bands to the teeth of the human patient for tooth straightening purposes. An elongated member has a handle portion at one end and an operative flattened portion at the other end, the area of one side of the flattened portion is at least co-extensive with that of the area of the working surface of the tooth-opposed to that for which the tool will be used. Dual post means extend from the other side of the flattened portion at substantially the same angle relative thereto and engage at opposite sides of the outer edge of the dental band. The inner edge of the band initially engages about the outer edge of the working surface of the tooth, and the one side of the flattened portion is adapted to engage with the working surface of the opposing tooth. The dual post means is adapted to guide and push the band into circumferential engagement about the side of the tooth, on biting engagement with the flattened portion, thereby seating the band about the tooth.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures DUAL POST BAND SEATER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a tool usedfor the seating of orthodontic'bands about teeth, and more particularly to the construction and operation of a dental band pusher used for this purpose.

In the seating or fitting of orthodontic bands to the teeth, instruments called band pushers or band seaters are most frequently used. Sometimes difficulty is experienced in seating-the band anda similar instrument witha single post may be used by having the patient bite on the tool forcing theband into place. However, often times difficulty may be encountered in getting the band toseat in the proper place about the tooth, and in fact, adjustment of the seating of the band may be accompanied by injury to both the tooth and gums. For example, the device can slip off the tooth or slip off the edge of the band while the patient is assisting the orthodontist in squeezing the working-surfaces of the teeth together. If the band pusher slips off theband, it can slide laterally and possibly cause injury to the gums or perhaps even chip the working surfaces of the teeth since these instruments are usually constructed of a hard stain-resistant metal.

Other band seating devices include instruments which grip the edge of the band and twist same about the tooth, however, it is possible to deform the band by utilizing such an apparatus and further injuries may occur due to slippage of the band, or a sudden release of the instrument from engagement with the band causing predictable injury. I

, It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement which substantially obviates one or more of the limitations and disadvantages of the described prior arrangements;

It is still another object of the present invention to SUMMARY OF INVENTION There has been provided a dental tool for applying dental bands to the teeth of human patients for tooth straightening purposes. The instrument includes an elongated member having a handle portion adjacent to one end thereof and an operative flattened portion adjacent the other end thereof. The area of one side of the flattened portion has dimensions at least co-extensive with that of the area of the working surface of the tooth opposed to that from which the toolwill be used. Dual post means extend from the other side of the flattened portion, each at substantially the same selected angle relative thereto for engaging at opposite sides of the outer edge of a dental band, while the inner edge of the band initially engages'about the outeredge of the work-' ing surface of the tooth. The dual post means is disposed substantially in a plane which includes the longitudinal axis of the elongated member, and the one side of the flattened portion is adapted to engage the working surface of the opposed tooth of the patient. The dual post means is adapted to guide and push the band into circumferential engagement with the sides of the tooth, on biting engagement by the patient of the flattened portion, thereby seating the band about the tooth.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other and further objects thereof, reference is directed to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, while its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS F IG'. 1 illustrates in a side view the application of the device described herein with the band seated.

FIG. 2 is a bottom elevation view, partly in section, of the device illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front'elevational view corresponding to FIG. 1, but showing the application immediately before seating the band.

FIG. 4 are fragmentary views corresponding to FIG. 1, showing modifications of the dual post means adapted for engagement with different size teeth.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 generally illustrates the principle of operation of the present invention. In FIG. 1 there are shown upper and lower opposed teeth T, and T respectively, with the instrument of the present invention shown generally as elongated member 10. The elongated member 10 has a handle portion 11 at one end thereof and an operative flattened portion 12 at the other end thereof. This operative portion 12 is more clearly illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 where it can be seen that the flattened portion of the instrument is at least co-extensive with the area of the working surface of the tooth T opposed to the tooth T for which the aforesaid tool is to be used.

Referring back to FIG. 1, a dual post means embodying this invention is shown generally at 13 and has posts 13A and 13B, preferably both identical and extending from the same side of the flattened portion 12 of the instrument 10. Each of the extending posts 13A and 13B is disposed at the same selected angle A between its outer side and the flattened portion 12. Usually the posts diverge from each other. The posts 13A and 138 preferably are cylindrical and of a strong hard stainless metal, e.g., stainless steel, and terminate in flat end surfaces generally parallel to the flattened portion 12.

The posts 13A and 13B are adapted to engage with the outer edge 14A of a dental band 14 at opposite sides, while the bands inner edge 14B initially engages about the crown 15 of the tooth T It should be understood, of course, that the band 14 may be seated about an upper tooth, e.g., T wherein the band edge 148 would engage similarly with the crown 15' of tooth T It can be readily seen in FIG. 3 that the posts 13A and 13B are disposed in a plane which includes the longitudinal axis of the instrument 10 and is substantially perpendicular to the flattened portion 12 of the instrument. This permitsthe instrument to engage with the band 14 substantially across its diameter so as to provide an even seating of the band when the working surfaces of the teeth T and T are placed in biting engagement with the instrument 10.

FIG. 3 further illustrates the initial placing of band 14 over the tooth T wherein the band 14 engages at its inner edge 148 about the crown 15 of the tooth T The instrument is then placed in the patients mouth and arranged so as to engage with the outer edge MA of the band 14 at the opposite sides thereof. Once the instrument is arranged in proper engagement with the upper edge of the band, the patient is instructed to slowly close the working surfaces of the teeth so as to initially engage the upper side of the flattened portion 12 of the instrument, and begin to push the posts 14A and 1413 against the band 14 to seat the latter about the tooth T The initial seating is important to insure that the band 14 uniformly engages circumferentially about the tooth T without tilting as illustrated in FIG. 1 and further that the upper tooth T engages with the flattened portion 12 of the instrument 10 in a stable fashion so that the instrument will not slip from engagement with the band 14. The use of the dual post means 13, as illustrated in the present invention, minimizes slipping of the instrument off of the outer edge 14A of the band 14, since the individual posts 13A and 13B are each at a diverging angle A relative to each other and tend to stabilize and balance the forces exerted on the opposite sides of the band 14 by the closure of the patients teeth.

As mentioned previously, there are instruments which have a single post, but these can readily slip off the edge 14A and further will tend to unevenly distribute the forces of the upper working surface of the tooth T,, i.e., to one side of the band 14. In the present invention, however, the forces are substantially equal on opposite sides of the outer edge 14A of the band as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Once the initial seating of the band 14 is proper, the patient bitingly engages the'flattened portion 12 of the tool 10 with the tooth T and thus, pushes the band 14 downwardly until it is in full seating engagement about the tooth T; as shown in FIG. 1.

The dual post means 13 illustrated in FIG. 1 is de scribed in more detail relative to FIGS. 2 through 4, wherein it can be seen that the separate posts 13A and 13B of the dual post means 13 are cylindrical in shape and diverge away from each other at the selected angle A with the flattened portion 12 of the instrument 10. Further, the main body of the instrument 10, as illustrated in FIG. 2 is a somewhat soft and resilient plastic material which helps to protect the delicate working surface of the opposed working tooth T as well as securely fastening the dual post means 13 to the tool 10, i.e., the dual post means 13 is embedded within the plastic flattened portion 12, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Further, the dual post means 13 desirably includes a flattened base portion 13C connecting the posts 13A and 138, which can be clearly seen in both FIGS. 2 and 3. This portion 13C is embedded in the flattened portion so as to add strength to the instrument and maintain the extending posts 13A and 138 in fixed position relative to each other when the instrument is being used.

FIG. 4 illustrates variations in the construction of the instrument and shows that the posts 13A and 1313 may extend from the flattened portion 12 of the instrument at the same but variable selected angle A. This angle A may vary from about 90 relative to the flattened portion 12 to about 45. The reason for such variation is that different tools need be constructed for different areas of the mouth where access may be more or less difficult depending upon the size and shape of the particular tooth to which a band is to be applied. Furthermore, the length l of the posts 13A and 13B is variable for different instrumentsfrom about 3 to about 5 mm while the width between the posts 13A and 138 at their bases may be varied from about 5 to 12 mm as illustrated by the dimension notation w in FIG. 4. Finally, the posts themselves may have different diameters depending upon the'particular use from about 1 to about 2 mm as illustrated by the dimension notation d in FIG. 4.

While there has been described what at present is considered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the principles of the invention. It is therefore, the aim in the appended claims, to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: 1. A dental tool for applying dental bands to the teeth of a human patient for tooth straightening purposes, comprising:

an elongated member having a handle portion adjacent one end thereof and an operative flattened portion adjacent the other end thereof, the area of one side of said flattened portion being at least coextensive with that of the area of the working surface of a tooth opposed to that for which said tool will be used; dual post means extending from the other side of said flattened portion, each at substantially the same selected angle between their outer sides and said flattened portion for engaging at opposite sides of the outer edge of a dental band, while the inner edge of the band initially engages about the outer edge of the working surface of the tooth about which the band is to be fixed, said dual post means being disposed substantially in a plane which includes the longitudinal axis of the said elongated member;

said one side of said flattened portion being adapted to be engaged by the working surface of the opposed tooth of the patient and said dual post means being adapted to guide and push the band into circumferential engagement about the sides of the tooth, on biting engagement of the patient with the flattened portion, thereby seating the band about the tooth.

2. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein said dual post means comprises:

cylindrical members and the selected angle is from about to about 45.

3. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein said dual post means comprises cylindrical members of the same dimensions each having a length of from about 3 to about 5 millimeters and a diameter of from about 1 to about 2 mm.

4. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein said dual post means comprises:

cylindrical members the distance between said members at their bases being of the order of from about 5 to about 12 mm.

5. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein the member is of plastic material and said dual post means comprises an integral metallic member of generally a U-shape having a central portion embedded in the flattened portion and flattened in the plane of said flattened portion to inhibit twisting of said post while in use. 

1. A dental tool for applying dental bands to the teeth of a human patient for tooth straightening purposes, comprising: an elongated member having a handle portion adjacent one end thereof and an operative flattened portion adjacent the other end thereof, the area of one side of said flattened portion being at least co-extensive with that of the area of the working surface of a tooth opposed to that for which said tool will be used; dual post means extending from the other side of said flattened portion, each at substantially the same selected angle between their outer sides and said flattened portion for engaging at opposite sides of the outer edge of a dental band, while the inner edge of the band initially engages about the outer edge of the working surface of the tooth about which the band is to be fixed, said dual post means being disposed substantially in a plane which includes the longitudinal axis of the said elongated member; said one side of said flattened portion being adapted to be engaged by the working surface of the opposed tooth of the patient and said dual post means being adapted to guide and push the band into circumferential engagement about the sides of the tooth, on biting engagement of the patient with the flattened portion, thereby seating the band about the tooth.
 2. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein said dual post means comprises: cylindrical members and the selected angle is from about 90* to about 45*.
 3. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein said dual post means comprises cylindrical members of the same dimensions each having a length of from about 3 to about 5 millimeters and a diameter of from about 1 to about 2 mm.
 4. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein said dual post means comprises: cylindrical members the distance between said members at their bases being of the order of from about 5 to about 12 mm.
 5. The dental tool of claim 1 wherein the member is of plastic material and said dual post means comprises an integral metallic member of generally a U-shape having a central portion embedded in the flattened portion and flattened in the plane of said flattened portion to inhibit twisting of said post while in use. 